


A Gift For The Twins

by TheWhiteShellMermaid



Series: What Witches Do For Christmas [3]
Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom, The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Constance loves them regardless, Gen, Gift Giving, Implied painful pasts, TW: past verbal abuse, The twins are worth it, Worst Witch Winter Warmers 2019, they deserve the nicest things, whether they think so or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21854245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhiteShellMermaid/pseuds/TheWhiteShellMermaid
Summary: Constance gives Eva and Leah a gift, but it brings back painful reminders of their grandmother's cruelty. They don't believe they deserve it, but Constance helps them to see that they do.
Series: What Witches Do For Christmas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567606
Kudos: 2





	A Gift For The Twins

Constance Hardbroom smiles softly to herself as she places the items into the box. It is the twins’ second Yuletide at the academy and she feels she needs to do something special for them. The previous year had been their very first time ever experiencing Yule and she had kept it simple, as she always did, and shared her usual traditions with the girls. 

She places the second set of items in a second box and wraps them both with some appropriately themed wrapping paper she’s found in one of the castle’s storerooms. Lastly, she adds a ribbon to each box, tying them into careful bows on top before placing name tags on each one. 

Then, she tucks them out of sight underneath her bed, where they'll stay until Christmas Eve. 

**o0o**

Constance walks down the second year corridor, observing the silence as she does. She wonders if her girls get lonely down here, when their classmates are gone and everything is still and quiet. Would it be better to move them up to a spare room in the teachers’ wing for the holidays? Would they be more comfortable closer to her rather than spread out across the castle as they were? It would certainly be safer; if something were to happen to them she would never forgive herself. Even though they are capable of protecting themselves, they are still children and she is still their caregiver. Perhaps she should ask them. 

She stops in front of their door, the flickering candle light visible beneath and the soft voices within the only indication that it is occupied. She knocks lightly and waits.

When there is a soft ‘come in’ from inside she pushes open the door and steps in, before closing it behind her to retain the warmth from the heating spell the girls have erected. 

“Hello girls.” She says, her voice gentle as it always is with her girls. “Are we all ready for bed?” 

They are dressed in their night clothes and their hair is in loose braids for sleep. “Yes.” They reply simultaneously and stand to meet her. 

Constance smiles and motions for them to come over to Eva's bed. “I've got something for you, my little witches. Would you like to see what it is?” 

The girls are hesitant at first. “What sort of something?” Leah questions anxiously as they follow her. 

She turns and kneels down to their level. She can see in their eyes that they are frightened of what this something is. They've probably never been given anything nice before, she thinks sadly and wishes she'd done this sooner. 

“It's a nice something, I promise.” She tells them gently. “Sometimes, at Yule, people give gifts to others they care about.”

The girls seem to consider this. “Is it a tradition? Like the Yule log?” Eva questions. 

Constance nods. “I suppose so, yes. It's more popular among mortals but some witches do it also. Look here now.” 

She waves her hand over the bed and mutters a summoning spell under her breath. Two neatly wrapped boxes materialize on top of the covers in a shower of purple sparks. 

The girls gasp in awe and stare at the boxes, before looking up at their guardian in question. 

Constance smiles. “Go on.” She urges. “Those are for you.” 

She watches as they tentatively take their respective boxes in their hands, eyes wide. “For us?” Says Eva, as if she thinks it might be a cruel joke. 

“That's right. Go ahead and open them.” 

They both start to slowly, carefully peel off the tape and pull away the paper. Leah traces her fingers over the snowflakes on her’s, admiring the pattern, while Eva fingers the thick fabric ribbon on her’s. Constance remembers when she was a girl, getting presents from her parents and tearing into them as if the contents would disappear if she waited to long. She thinks it's sweet how these girls are being so careful.

Once they've finished with the wrapping, they carefully open their boxes to see what's inside. She watches with bated breath, hoping, but also somehow knowing, that they'll like it. They do. 

Eva pulls out a soft knit purple hat with a blue crocheted flower on the front. There are mittens and a scarf to match. Leah has the same, but her’s are in blue with a purple flower. They hold them in their hands as if they are precious jewels and are so caught up that they almost don't see the rest of their gifts still in the boxes. When they do notice there's more, they dive back in and gasp when they pull out brand new thick winter cloaks. They are black on the outside but the soft fleecy lining is purple on Eva's and blue on Leah's and they shine in the candlelight with the water proofing spells Constance has taken the time to stitch into them. 

The girls clutch their gifts to their chests as if they think they might be snatched cruelly away and Constance notices with some alarm the tears now running down their pale cheeks. 

She shifts closer cautiously. “Girls, what's wrong?” 

They look up at her with wet, pain-filled eyes. “No one’s ever given us a gift before.” Says Leah. “Grandmother says we don't deserve gifts.” 

Eva looks away, holding her new cloak tightly. “Only good girls deserve nice things.” Suddenly, her breaths come faster and something flashes behind her dark eyes. “We're not good! We're horrible! We don't deserve this!” 

She drops her things and turns away from them, tears streaming down her cheeks and her sweet face twisted with anger. She clenches her fists and let's out a sob and there are sparks dancing around her hands. “We're worthless and stupid a-and - and -” 

Constance’s heart breaks. She wants to find the woman who caused this and tear her to literal shreds and curse her until there's nothing left to curse. 

“Eva. Sweetheart, you know that's not true.” She keeps her voice low and gentle. 

Eva's chest is heaving and she's crying hot, angry tears. Leah looks dejected now too, drops her things onto the bed. “She's right.” She whispers. “We don't deserve this.” 

Constance had suspected something like this might happen. She knows too well the damage cruel words can do and these girls had never known anything but cruelty before their arrival at the academy. 

She sits down on the bed and motions them over. “Girls. Come and sit with me. I have something very important to tell you.” 

Leah knots her hands together anxiously and Constance knows she's wondering if she's cross with them for rejecting her gifts, if she's going to punish them now. 

“I'm not upset with you. I'm not going to hurt you.” She assures gently. 

Leah considers her words, before picking up what her sister has dropped and placing it on the bed before sitting cautiously at her side. Eva shifts closer, but she doesn't sit and Constance accepts that she wants some space. 

She looks between them and she can't help but love them as only a mother can. “My girls. Nothing your horrid grandmother has ever told you is true, I promise. You are not horrible and you are certainly not stupid or worthless. You will always be worth the world to me and you will always deserve the nicest things in my eyes. Your grandmother may have thought otherwise but she could never have been more wrong.” 

Leah looks up at her, her blue eyes wide. “Do you really believe that?” 

Constance strokes a loose strand of hair from Leah's face. “I do.”

Before she can continue, the small girl’s arms are around her in a hug. “You are the first one to say such a thing to us.” 

She holds Leah in her arms, and Eva must think the prospect of a hug is inviting, because she soon joins them, crying into her chest. She cradles them both and when they are calm, she speaks. “You are worth it, little witches, promise me you'll remember that.” 

They both gaze up at her, eyes wet. “We promise.” 

**o0o**

The next day comes around and the sisters wake early, as they do. Constance isn't yet up and the girls take this opportunity to do something special for her as a thank you for the gifts she's given them. 

They slip from their room in silence and creep downstairs in search of some supplies. They soon uncover some cardstock, a collection of strange, colourful quills and equally colourful paper, some glue, scissors and a jar of something glittery that they've seen the other girls use for holiday cards. Once they have everything they need, they return to their room and set to work. 

When they finish, they have beautiful handmade card decorated with an image of a thick green garland of spruce bows strung from a shelf lined with glittery potion bottles. There's a red bow at the centre of the shelf and bunches of red and white flowers beneath it. They slip it into the envelope they've made and vanish everything back to its place before nervously making their way up to the teachers’ wing. 

When they come to their teacher’s door and knock gently, she calls for them to enter, and they do. She's sitting at her mirror brushing her hair, but she pauses and turns around when they come. 

“Good morning, girls.” She smiles. “Did you have a good sleep?” 

The girls nod and shift anxiously. “Yes. We, um, we wanted to apologize for last night. You gave us nice things and we were very rude.” Eva whispers. 

Constance frowns, confused before she realizes they think they've offended her with their reactions the previous night. 

“Oh Eva.” She says. “Girls, you needn't apologize. It's not your fault. You're not used to getting gifts and you’ve been made believe terrible lies. I knew you'd react that way, but I also knew how grateful you'd be. I gave you those gifts because I wanted you to know that you _are_ worth it and you _do_ deserve nice things.” 

The girls look up at her in surprise. “You - you knew? How?” 

Constance gets up and moves to her bed and motions for the girls to join her. They do. “I knew because I reacted the same way, once. My first year here, after - after her, we had an extra kitten because one of the new girls had switched schools at the last minute. Miss Cackle gave her to me, but I didn't believe I deserved such great gift. She had taken away my original familiar, telling me a useless witch like me didn't deserve a familiar, and I never got her back. Miss Cackle helped me to realize that wasn't true and now it's my turn to do the same for you.” 

The girls frown. Leah hugs her. “But Miss, you're not useless. You're really powerful and you're the best teacher in the school. That nasty witch doesn't know what she's talking about.” 

Constance can't help the upwards twitch of her lips. “You are very sweet, Leah. Now, shall we have a look at what you've got there?” 

Leah's cheeks are pink as she holds it up. “We’ve made you a Yule card, Miss, to say thank you.” 

She offers the card to their guardian and she takes it carefully. It's been a long time since she's received a Yule card and this one is extra special because it is from her two favourite little witches. She smiles at them and can't help the tears that prick her eyes as she opens the envelope and pulls it out. It's clearly handmade, which makes even better. She traces the image, glittery potions and bright red and white poinsettias. 

“Do you like it?” Leah asks worriedly. 

She opens the card and reads the inscription. “It's perfect, girls. Thank you.” She says with feeling and hugs them both tightly. “I truly don't know what I've done to deserve you. You're so very special.” 


End file.
